All 16 Opening Round hosts have advanced to the NAIA Men’s Soccer National Championship final site in Montgomery, Ala., for the first time since the initiation of the format in 2008. Fifteen final-site contests will take place from Dec. 2-7 at the Emory Folmar YMCA Soccer Complex. Thirteen host schools won their Opening Round games, with the other three advancing to the final site via penalty kicks. Of the sixteen matches that took place on Saturday, seven required an overtime period—with six of those games advancing to double overtime and three being settled by penalty kicks. Auburn Montgomery (Ala.), Benedictine (Kan.) and MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) were the three Opening Round hosts who needed penalty kicks to advance to the final site. Ashford (Iowa), Baker (Kan.), Hastings (Neb.) and Missouri Valley also required extra time to punch their tickets to Montgomery. Indiana Wesleyan defended its home field, defeating No. 15 Davenport (Mich.), 5-0, for the lone upset of the day. The win was the first National Championship victory for the Wildcats, in their first-ever appearance. Indiana Wesleyan was also the lone National Championship newcomer to win its Opening Round match. All four Heart of America Athletic Conference teams advanced to the final site, though each required at least two overtime periods to do so. All nine teams that entered the Opening Round via at-large berths also advanced to the final site. Of the 16 final-site teams, 12 competed in the National Championship last season. After going 13-0-3 in today’s contests, Opening Round hosts are 61-20-11(.723) all-time. With its 2-1 win over Point Park (Pa.), Rio Grande (Ohio) is a perfect 6-0-0 in Opening Round matches. Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) follows the Red Storm, with a 5-1-0 record, after knocking off Park (Mo.), 3-1. NAIA Men’s Soccer National Championship action will resume on Monday, Dec. 2 with four matches.
Posted on: Sun, 24 Nov 2013 14:16:45 +0000
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